Glossary
Atomic Wallet Glossary.
A
Address:
An identifier in the form of a string of letters and numbers that represents the destination of crypto payment. A cryptocurrency address can be shared with those who want to send you cryptocurrency publicly in the form of text or QR code.
Airdrop:
A promotional campaign distributing to the crowd a particular cryptocurrency or token. It’s generally launched by a cryptocurrency maker to encourage the coin or token use and popularity. Most airdrop campaigns operate with mechanics like getting coins or tokens for easy functions such as exchanging news, mentioning friends, or downloading an app.
Algorithm:
A method or set of regulations to be performed in problem-solving or calculation activities, generally by a machine, although, people also tend to obey measures algorithmically (say math or after a formula).
All-Time-High (ATH):
The highest point in the history of a cryptocurrency (in value, in market capitalization).
All-Time-Low (ATL):
The lowest point in the history of a cryptocurrency (in value, in market capitalization).
Altcoin:
Bitcoin was the first cryptocurrency to gather the attention of all investors of the world, while all other coins were later called “altcoins” as in “alternative coins.”
Anti-Money Laundering (AML):
A series of international laws implemented to curtail money laundering by cryptocurrencies into real-world cash by criminal organizations or people.
API:
API stands for Application Programming Interface. It is a collection of software application construction codes, protocols, and instruments. APIs indicate how parts of software should communicate with each other, such as what information to use and what activities to take.
Arbitration:
A practice of taking benefit in two or more sectors or transfers of variations in the cost of the same commodity. For instance, rates on Korean markets for cryptocurrency may differ from those on US exchanges. To purchase in one and sell in another for-profit, an arbitrage trader would be in both economies.
ASIC:
Short for ‘Application Specific Integrated Circuit’. it is mining equipment specifically used to mine a particular cryptocurrency. ASICs are often developed and purchased specifically for mining reasons relative to GPUs and deliver important gains in effectiveness and energy savings owing to their limited use case.
B
Bag:
A large amount of a particular cryptocurrency is deemed a “bag.” How many rely on the person’s definition using the phrase.
Bagholder:
An individual holding a cryptocurrency in big amounts. Often used when the cost of that cryptocurrency is decreasing to define such an individual.
Bear:
A man who is pessimistic and hopes to decrease in market prices. It is also recognized that this individual is “bearish” about the industry or the value.
Bear Trap:
A method performed by a group of traders to manipulate the cost of a cryptocurrency. The bear trap is laid by simultaneously selling a large quantity of the same cryptocurrency, fooling the public into believing that the cost is coming down. Other traders are selling their coins in reaction to that, further pushing down the cost. Those who laid the trap then discharge it, at a reduced cost purchasing back their coins. The cost then bounces back, enabling them to create a profit.
Bitcoin ATM (BTM):
A Bitcoin withdrawal machine.
Bitcoin Improvement Proposal (BIP):
A technical design document that provides the Bitcoin community with data describing fresh characteristics, procedures or settings that affect the Bitcoin protocol. Suggested protocol modifications will be presented as a BIP. The author of the BIP is accountable for seeking feedback and agreement on the suggested community changes and recording the views of the public.
BitLicense:
A company license granted by the New York State Department of Financial Services (NYSDFS) to cryptocurrency businesses in New York.
Bits:
A bitcoin sub-unit. One bitcoin has 1,000,000 parts.
Block:
A container or transaction collection that occurs on a blockchain at any time.
Blockchain:
A blockchain is a constantly increasing list of documents called blocks that are connected and guaranteed using cryptography.
Block Explorer:
An internet tool for viewing, among other helpful data, all activities that took place on the blockchain, network hash frequency, and customer development.
Block Height:
The number of blocks on the blockchain preceding the block in question, or can be considered before this point as total blocks in the chain.
Block Reward:
An incentive for a miner who calculates a valid hash during an effective mining in a block. By contributing to the safety and liveness of the chain, the miner is rewarded with this incentive, ensuring that miners continue to act in the best interests of the blockchain by legitimately participating (instead of hacking) in the process.
Bollinger Band:
A device created by Bollinger to assist the recognition of intrinsic pattern identification in rates; in some instances, it is a band that plots two normal deviations back from the easy moving average or exponential moving average.
Bots:
Automated trading technology bots relying on a preset algorithm of buy-and-sell regulations that perform trade instructions incredibly rapidly.
Brute Force Attack (BFA):
A test-and-error technique in which automated software produces and attempts many possible combinations to break a code or illegally gather other’s data.
Bubble:
A bubble depicts a scenario in which business members push rates above their value, generally accompanied by a steep, fast price fall as the market corrects.
Bug Bounty:
A prize for discovering computer code vulnerabilities and problems. Cryptocurrency firms such as protocols, exchanges, and wallets are often provided to define prospective safety breaches or bugs before unfriendly sides exploit them.
Bull:
A man who is hopeful and aware of rising market prices. It’s also renowned that this individual is “bullish” about the industry or value.
Bull Trap:
A fake business message where an asset’s decreasing trend appears to be on the rise but does not effectively materialize, resulting in bulls losing cash after a long time.
Buy Wall:
a position where the purchase of a big limit order is positioned when a cryptocurrency approaches a certain value. Traders can sometimes use this to make a certain impact on the industry, stopping a cryptocurrency from dropping below the needed value, as the demand is likely to outstrip supply when the order is performed.
Burned coin:
If a coin or a token is forever unusable or was listed as a scam.
C
Candlesticks:
Candlesticks is a graphics method that is used over time to demonstrate cost modifications. Each candle offers 4 data points: cost of opening, cost of closing, high and small. Also known in short as “candles.”
Cash:
Cash is a currency’s physical shape, like banknotes or stamps.
Centralized:
An organizational framework in which an entire network is controlled by a tiny amount of nodes.
Central Ledger:
A ledger held by a centralized organization (like a bank) that registers all economic operations
Central Processing Unit (CPU):
Central Processing Unit, also recognized as a processor or CPU, is described as the computer’s “brains,” connecting various parts that run on a computer. Measurement of the CPU clock velocity in gigahertz or GHz.
Change:
Bitcoin operations in a scheme called Unspent Transaction Output consist of inputs and outputs. You can only send them in a whole output when you send bitcoins, and the rest will be returned as a change.
Chargeback:
A request produced by a credit card provider for a retailer to compensate for the loss of a fraudulent or contested transaction, reversing that deposit or transfer of cash after it has been approved.
Chain Split:
Another word for describing disconnected blocks in a blockchain.
Cipher:
The name provided to the data encryption and decryption algorithm.
Class Max:
The finest estimate of the number of coins floating on the market and in the hands of the general public.
Client:
Software capable of accessing and processing local machine blockchain transactions. A popular use of this is a wallet for cryptocurrency software.
Close:
Refers to the cost of closing; comparable to the word used in economic stocks.
Cloud Mining:
Remote handling energy mining leased from firms running facilities in nations like Iceland where electricity is scarce and cost-effective and the ambient temperature is cool throughout the year. Another word for this is the agreement for mining.
Coin:
A coin is an independent cryptocurrency.
Coinbase:
A coinbase is a compulsory-included transaction on a block first built in the Bitcoin scheme, whose yield refers to where to give the mining prize. The coinbase has an input of 100 bytes in the Bitcoin system, where messages can be attached or used as an additional nonce.
Cold Storage:
Cryptocurrencies offline storage, typically comprising non-custodial wallets, USBs, offline pcs, or wallets of the document.
Cold Wallet:
A cold storage as a cryptocurrency wallet, i.e. not linked to the internet.
Confirmations:
Only when it is included in a block on the blockchain is a transaction verified, at which stage it has one confirmation. Another proof is each extra block. Various transactions involve a distinct amount of confirmations to consider a final transaction in cryptocurrency.
Consensus:
Consensus is reached when all network respondents agree on the order and material of files and activities in those blocks (as in Agreement).
Blockchain Consortium:
A private and-operated blockchain in which a consortium shares information that is not readily available to the public while relying on the blockchain’s immutable and transparent properties.
Correction:
In a cryptocurrency or general market, a correction is a (generally adverse) inverse motion of at least 10 percent to compensate for over-or under-valuations.
Co-Signer:
An individual or organization that has full power over a cryptocurrency wallet and access to it.
Crypto Asset:
Cryptoassets utilize cryptography, agreement algorithms, distributed ledgers, peer-to-peer computing and/or intelligent agreements to serve as a value shop, exchange medium, account unit, or decentralized implementation.
Cryptocurrency:
A cryptocurrency is a digital exchange medium that uses strong cryptography to safeguard economic operations, regulate extra unit development, and check asset distribution.
Cryptography:
A field of research and exercise in which data is secured, stopping third parties from reading data to which they are not private.
Cryptographic hash function:
Cryptographic hashes from variable-size transaction input generate a fixed-size and distinctive hash value. An instance of a cryptographic hash feature is the SHA-256 algorithm.
Crypto-jacking:
Using the laptop of another party without their permission to mine cryptocurrency.
Custodial:
Usually referring to keys being stored in connection with wallets or transactions, a custodial set-up is one in which the service provider holds private keys while providing a login account.
D
Dark Web:
A part of internet material on darknets, not indexed by search engines, accessible only with a particular technology, settings or permissions.
Launch date:
Is a word used when ICOs are selling their tokens.
Decentralized:
Decentralization relates to the ownership of a scheme in which nodes or performers operate together to attain a worldwide objective in a dispersed fashion.
Decentralized Applications (dApps):
A type of application running on a decentralized network that avoids a single failure point.
Decentralized Autonomous Coin Offerings (DAICO):
A technique for decentralized project funding, mixing concepts from Decentralized Autonomous Organizations (DAOs) and Initial Coin Offerings (ICOs), suggested by Ethereum designer Vitalik Buterin. It introduces a form of governance in the process of the ICO, allowing backers to vote to return their funds if certain conditions are fulfilled.
Decentralized Autonomous Organizations (DAO):
An organization governed by rules encoded in intelligent contracts.
Decentralized exchange (DEX):
A peer-to-peer exchange that enables consumers to purchase and sell cryptocurrency and other property without an engaged key intermediary.
Decryption:
The process of transforming unreadable information by encrypting it back to its unencrypted type.
Deflation:
A decrease in the overall price level in an economy. May also refer to deflationary monetary policy, such as Bitcoin, where coin supplies are resolved.
Delegated Proof-of-Stake (dPOS):
A compromised system where consumers can vote with votes equal to their trust for representatives generating blocks on the blockchain. It seeks to make blockchain agreement protocols more efficient and environmentally friendly.
Depth Chart:
A graph that models on a chart the demands for buying (offers) and the demands for selling (asks) depending on restriction instructions. The graph demonstrates where a transaction is most probable to be accepted by the industry.
Derivative:
An agreement that derives its importance from an underlying asset, cpi, or interest rate efficiency.
Derivatives Market:
A government derivatives exchange, tools like futures agreements or choices obtained from other types of cryptocurrency property.
Deterministic Wallet:
A sort of wallet deriving keys from a point of departure called a seed. You can back up and rebuild any purse as soon as you have this seed. See Deterministic Hierarchical Wallet (HD Wallet).
Difficulty:
A relative measure of how hard a new block is to discover. In Bitcoin, the problem is periodically adjusted as a function of how much hashing power the miners ‘ network has deployed.
Digital Commodity:
An intangible property that is electronically transmitted and has some significance.
Digital currency:
Digital currency, also known as digital money or electronic money or electronic currency, is a type of currency that is only available in digital form, enabling instant transactions and borderless transfer of ownership.
Digital Identity:
Digital representations and storage of personal information such as name, address, social security number, and more; digital identity on the blockchain can be decentralized and securely used to verify identity.
Digital Signature:
An electronic signature produced by important encryption connected to a paper transferred electronically to check its content and the identity of the sender.
Directed Acyclic Graph (DAG):
A directed acyclic chart or DAG is a construction constructed in one path and never repeated.
Distributed Consensus:
Collective arrangement between different pcs in a network that allows it to operate in a decentralized way without the main agency.
Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) Attack:
A cyber-attack in which the perpetrator attempts to render a machine or network resource unavailable, disrupting a host’s Internet-connected services, overloading the system with requests so that legitimate requests can not be serviced.
Distributed Ledger:
Distributed ledgers are ledgers that store information across a decentralized node network. A distributed ledger is not necessarily a cryptocurrency and can only be accessed with permission and private.
Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT):
Distributed ledgers fundamental technology. This word is most frequently discussed about the implementation of distributed ledger technology in the framework of business use cases.
Distributed Network:
A sort of network without a centralized data center or authority where handling energy and information are distributed across nodes.
Dominance:
Also recognized as BTC Dominance for Bitcoin Dominance, it is an index comparing Bitcoin’s market capitalization with all other existing cryptocurrencies ‘ general market cap.
Double Spending:
A situation where more than once is invested in an amount of cash (illegitimately).
Dump:
All your money are sold off.
Dumping:
Voluntary business selling intervention, generating a downward motion of prices.
Dust transactions:
Tiny transactions that flood and slow the network, generally intentionally generated by individuals who seek disruption.
E
Enterprise Ethereum Alliance (EEA):
A group of Ethereum designers, startups and big businesses operating together to market and use Ethereum for company apps.
Emission:
Emission is the rate at which fresh coins are produced and published, also recognized as Emission Curve, Emission Rate, and Emission Schedule.
ERC-20:
An Ethereum token standard used to implement tokens for smart contracts. It is a popular list of regulations that define tokens relationships, including address conversion and access to information.
ERC-721:
A token standard for Ethereum tokens that are not fungible. Introduced in 2017, an Ethereum Improvement Proposal allows smart contracts to function as tradable tokens comparable to ERC-20.
Escrow:
An escrow is a contractual arrangement whereby a third party receives and disburses money or documents for the primary transacting parties, with the disbursement depending on the terms agreed by the transacting parties. This can be streamlined using the blockchain’s intelligent agreements.
Ether:
The payment form used in the delivery software platform procedure, Ethereum, to encourage devices to perform the desired activities.
Ethereum Improvement Proposal (EIP):
Ethereum Improvement Proposals (EIPs) define Ethereum platform requirements, including key protocol requirements, customer APIs, and agreement requirements.
Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM):
A virtual Turing-complete machine that allows code execution precisely as designed; it is the runtime environment for each smart contract. Every Ethereum node operates across the blockchain on the EVM to preserve the agreement.
Exchange: Cryptocurrency contracts are companies that enable clients to trade cryptocurrencies for reserve cash or other cryptocurrencies.
Exchange-Traded Fund (ETF):
A guarantee that monitors assets, basket-like stocks, bonds, and cryptocurrencies but can be traded like a single stock.
F
Faucet:
This is a website where you can get rewarded with a cryptocurrency. All you need to do is completing simple tasks in limited time intervals. Basically, to make money you need to click on the link to go to the page to claim it or to enter characters from the image or perform other actions. Typically, this reward is used when the company first start altcoin to make people interested in their product
Fiat:
These are symbolic currencies whose nominal value and emission are regulated by state governments, for example, the Central Bank or the Federal Reserve System, and have their own banking system. In the process of development of Internet technologies, the transfer of fiat digital fiat money, which is stored in a bank account or in another payment system, has become available.
Fiat-Pegged Cryptocurrency:
This is the name of a digital coin issued on a blockchain platform and associated with a currency issued by a government or bank, and always linked to it with 1 to 1 in quantity. Each fiat-pegged cryptocurrency is guaranteed to always have a certain cash value in reserves. The examples of fiat-pegged cryptocurrencies are USDT, TUSD, USDC, PAX, and some others.
Fish:
Fish is a symbol for cryptocurrency holders who are new to crypto. They have a small stock of cryptocurrencies and are most susceptible to price fluctuations in the market.
Flippening:
The name of a hypothetically important situation, when Bitcoin will lose its dominant position regarding alternative currencies. The term refers to the general decline of Bitcoin compared to Ethereum.
Flipping:
Flipping is a special investment strategy in which making a profit works on the principle of buying at a cheaper price and selling at a high.
In the case of ICO, a flip implies the resale of tokens for profit after they listed on exchanges.
FOMO:
FOMO is an abbreviation of “Fear of Missing Out”. In the cryptocurrency market, the concept means the fear experienced by a trader or investor, losing potentially profitable investments or trading opportunities. Then regretting it in the future.
Fork (Blockchain):
Fork is an event when a blockchain is being separated into two different branches and two different projects. This may happen if the community of a blockchain has different opinions on the project development or the future vision of it. Originally the source code and transaction history are being copied. Some people use forks to make profits. As if you had coins on one blockchain, they will be doubled.
Fork (Software):
A software fork is a process of using the source code of one project by another project developers. By software fork such projects have been created: Litecoin, Dogecoin, Ethereum Classic, Ycash, Bitcoin Gold, Bitcoin Diamond, and more.
FUD:
The abbreviation of Fear, Uncertainty, Doubt is a strategy of psychological manipulation that is used in cryptocurrency marketing to spread misleading negative information about projects or their features. In some cases may affect the market price or reputation.
FUDster:
The person or organization that spreads FUD.
Full Node:
It is a server or computer that stores and downloads the full history of a blockchain and observes its rules in real-time. Full nodes allow the network to be distributed.
Fundamental Analysis (FA):
FA is one of the options for evaluating an asset by studying economic, financial, and other qualitative and quantitative factors (project technology, team, prospects). The result of the functional analysis is forecasting the value of investments.
Futures:
A futures contract is an agreement to sell or buy a product or asset under certain fixed conditions in the future.
G
Gains:
Is a profit, which refers to an increase in value.
Gas:
Gas is the value mechanism used by Ethereum. This mechanism calculates how much the transaction operation will cost. Gas is a special unit used to measure the computing resources needed to complete a particular task (fulfilling a smart contract or paying miners for a transaction to be added to the block).
Gas Limit:
This is the maximum amount of gas set by cryptocurrency owner that he is willing to pay when making a transaction or completing a smart contract on the Ethereum blockchain. The most commonly used gas limit = 21 gwei.
Gas Price:
Gas Price is the price a user is willing to pay for a transaction.
Genesis Block:
The Genesis block is the first block that was created on the blockchain.
Gold-Backed Cryptocurrency:
A digital coin whose value is equal to gold. A gram of gold can be exchanged for other cryptocurrencies from their holders.
Graphical Processing Unit (GPU):
This is a specialized circuit that is designed to quickly manipulate and change memory to speed up the creation of images in the frame buffer. Originally created to work with 3D and was found useful for mining cryptocurrency.
Group Mining:
Combining computational power by several miners to scale up economies. These terms also refer to the Mining Pools.
Gwei:
Gwei is a commonly used unit that determines the cost of gas. Gas must be paid as a fee for miners when sending transactions. 1 ETH = 1,000,000,000 Gwei.
H
Hacking:
Hacking is the process of a thorough study and using electronic or software systems for the unauthorized manipulation of other computers, illegal copying and behavior change.
Halving:
In the cryptocurrency space, this term means “division in half”, which implies a reduction in speed for issuing new coins. The block subsidy for miners is halved ensures crypto asset follows a stable release rate until it reaches its limited supply. A recent example: Litecoin Halving. The event occurs every 210,000 mined blocks in Bitcoin
Hard Cap:
The hard cap is a term that refers to the maximum limit on the number of tokens that can be sold. At an early stage of financing, the development team wants to collect the maximum amount of funds for previously issued tokens. If the limit is reached, then more funds will not be raised.
Hard Fork (Blockchain):
The cryptocurrency code that has been split. Changes in the code lead to the division of the network into two not different blockchains with no backward compatibility.
Hash:
Hash is a cryptographically generated string of characters. Can’t be recovered without knowing directly the cipher. Used in generation addresses, private keys, create links between blocks and more. The initial purpose was to make sure that the document will remain unchanged in any case.
Hash Power / Hash Rate:
This is a unit that measures the average amount of power that is used by the blockchain network to perform normally. Calculated by the processing computational power used to find new blocks. Computer hashing speed can be measured in kg / s, MG / s, GG / s, TG / s, PG / s or EG / s, depending on the number of hashes generated per second. To mine bitcoins, you need to solve a large number of mathematical problems, and only after that, you can possibly get cryptocurrency. Miners change nonce millions of times to find the right one to create the new block. All this complex mathematical process requires a powerful special devices that will help to find the right hash and get rewarded with cryptocurrency.
Hierarchical Deterministic Wallet (HD Wallet)
A wallet that uses one master seed to generate all the private keys and addresses for all supported cryptocurrencies. Master seed consists (in the most cases) of 12 words. Atomic is an HD wallet.
Hidden Cap:
The hidden cap is a limit on the amount of money a team collects from investors for its ICO. The hidden limit has its purpose is to stabilize the playing field. Both small and large investors can participate in ICO while the total cap can be adjusted to the demand on the token.
HODL:
This is one of the investment strategies commonly used by investors who refuse to sell their cryptocurrency regardless of whether the price is increasing or decreasing over a long period of time.
Hosted Wallet:
Hosted Wallet is a cryptocurrency wallet that is managed by a third-party service. Used by many participants to operate with cryptocurrency for the company needs.
Hot Storage:
Hot Storage is an online storage of private keys, with which you can get faster access to cryptocurrency management.
Hybrid PoW / PoS:
Hybrid PoW / PoS enables consistent network distribution algorithms like Proof of Work / Proof of Stake. This method helps to achieve a balance between miners and coin holders, creating a management system that takes into account the interests of both sides (holders) and (miners).
Hyperledger (Hyperledger Foundation):
Umbrella project of open source blockchains created by Linux Foundation in 2015.
I
Immutable:
An object whose state cannot be changed over time. In blockchain means that you cannot change the state and information that are included into block. That makes the ledger immutable.
Inflation:
Increasing in prices and decreases in the purchasing value over time.
Initial Coin Offering (ICO):
A type of crowdfunding platform which uses cryptocurrency as the main means of raising capital. Such a strategy is more common in cryptocurrency projects that have not yet fully developed their product, service, or blockchain-based platform. Funds raised at ICO usually come in the form of BTC or ETH.
Initial Token Offering (ITO):
An offer of tokens with proven or unproven utility value to raise investment capital. Tokens will play their role in the future ecosystem. ITO often included in the ICO.
Initial Bounty Offering (IBO):
The process in which cryptocurrency becomes publicly available. The process is limited in time and the spread of cryptocurrency occurs among people who invest their resources in order to earn money on it in the future. In contrast to ICO, Initial Bounty Offering requires labor efforts to get cryptocurrency. For example: spreading information about project in social media, making videos, or project promoting.
Instamine:
Instamine is a process where mining process of a huge amount of cryptocurrency have been accomplished nearly after the project launch. As a result the part of the cryptocurrency may be unevenly distributed among investors.
Intermediary / Middleman:
An individual or legal entity that acts as an intermediary between the parties to enter into agreements or fulfill obligations.
J
JOMO:
JOMO is an abbreviation of the words “Joy of Missing Out.” JOMO is the opposite of FOMO. Most often, this term is used by those who are not involved in the field of cryptocurrency and declare their happiness when prices fall.
K
KYC:
KYC is short for the words “Know Your Customer”. KYC refers to the process that banks and other financial institutions use to collect identification data and contact information from current and potential customers. Its purpose is to prevent fraud and other illegal activities, as well as the misuse of financial accounts.
L
Lambo:
Abbreviation from Lamborghini car. This car is an indicator of status, so Lambo means enrichment from the growth of Bitcoin.
Ledger:
A register that can be defined as a physical book or a digital computer file in which monetary and financial transactions are recorded. Recorded financial transactions can not be canceled, there only can be added new transactions.
Leverage:
The ratio of the client’s own funds to the funds required to open a position. Leverage is provided by a broker company/exchange company and allows the client to make transactions, the amount of which significantly exceeds the amount of the client’s own funds. Used in a margin trading.
Lightning Network:
The second level, working on top of the blockchain, allows increasing the speed of transactions among the participating nodes. Because it allows to open payment channels without adding records in ledger. This is one of the proposed solutions for scaling Bitcoin blockchain.
Limit Order / Limit Buy / Limit Sell:
The order of traders to buy or sell a security at a certain price. A buy limit order can only be executed at a limit price or lower, and a limit sell order can only be executed at a limit price or higher.
Liquidity:
The term is used to define the possibility of buying and selling an asset without significantly affecting the market price. This term is associated with the ease of converting an asset into fiat currency or other cryptocurrencies. Assets that are difficult to convert are considered illiquid, and assets that can be exchanged are immediately liquid.
Long:
The situation when with the purchase of cryptocurrency an investor is expecting to sell it at a higher price than at the time of purchase, in order to make a profit in the future.
M
Mainnet:
The situation when the blockchain protocol is fully deployed and developed, which means broadcasting, checking and recording of cryptocurrency transactions.
Market:
Online or offline space in which commercial transactions are conducted.
Market Capitalization / Market Cap / MCAP:
The total supply of a cryptocurrency multiplied by the current price is called Market Cap. This is one of the ways to rank the relative size of cryptocurrencies.
Market Order / Market Buy / Market Sell:
Purchase and sale of cryptocurrency on the stock exchange at the best affordable price. This process is based on the willingness of sellers and buyers for sale. Market orders depend on market liquidity.
Margin Call:
The situation when the investor’s account falls below the amount to maintain the margin. If it happens, the broker requires an additional contribution of funds from the investor to meet the minimum amount necessary to continue trading.
Margin Trading:
Trading practice: when trader borrowed funds from a broker for trading cryptocurrency, which comes in a form collateral for a loan from a broker. This practice is risky for inexperienced investors.
Masternodes:
Are the DASH full nodes with a role of validating transactions and creating new blocks. Masternodes have features somewhat similar to full nodes, with a larger abilities: they can make anonymous transactions, clearing transactions, participate in management and voting. Masternodes are rewarded for their activities in cryptocurrency.
Max Supply:
It’s the limited maximum amount of cryptocurrency that can possibly be created. After reaching the maximum amount of the coins, there will be no way to get rewarded for mining new blocks except for the network fees.
Merkle Tree:
A way to organize and structure large amounts of data to make it easier to process. In cryptography merkle tree means that each leaf node is labeled with a hash and connected by this hash to the next data block. Each incomplete node is labeled with a hash of labels of its child nodes. Hash trees are needed for an effective and secure way to verify the data contained in the blockchain.
MicroBitcoin (uBTC):
One-millionth of bitcoin or 0.000001 bitcoin.
Microtransaction:
Making small payments in exchange for ordinary digital goods and services.
Mineable:
The system in some cryptocurrencies, through which miners can be rewarded for the creation of blocks by providing their hash power. Cryptocurrencies with such an ability to generate new cryptocurrencies in the process of confirmation are considered suitable for mining.
Miners:
Participants of the blockchain, who provides therir computational power to create new blocks and add transactions into it. Their role is to support the immutability of a ledger. For their activity miner receives a reward: network fees and block creation payment.
Mining:
Is a process of finding the right has for the new block. Takes a lot of electricity and computing power. Successful mining often requires mining farms as the operation is difficult to accomplish in conditions of limited time and competition.
Mining Contract:
A term of cloud mining that means online renting or investing in the mining process online.
Mining Pool:
A setup in which miners combine their computing power to increase competitiveness when finding the next block in the blockchain.
Mining Reward:
The reward that miners receive for his effort to find a new block and add to process a transactions. Currently miner reward in BTC blockchain: 12.5 BTC + network fees.
Mining rig:
A special device that is used for cryptocurrency mining.
Minnow:
A synonym for the term “Fish.”
Mixing Service :
Service to protect the confidentiality and anonymity of cryptocurrency transactions by mixing potentially identified with other non-related transactions. This complicates the process of tracking a cryptocurrency transaction and its owner.
Mnemonic Phrase:
This is a list of words that store all the information needed to restore cryptocurrency assets. The wallet itself usually generates a mnemonic backup phrase so that the user writes it on paper. If the user’s computer breaks down or stolen, he can reload the same wallet and use the paper backup to return his crypto assets. The mnemonic phrase should be kept in a safe and secure place.
Moon:
A term that is used to describe a cryptocurrency that potential growth expects. Another common use of this expression is the phrase “to the moon”, which refers to the firm belief that some cryptocurrency will soon increase significantly in price.
Moving Average Convergence Divergence (MACD):
A technical indicator developed by Gerald Appel. Used in technical analysis to assess and forecast price fluctuations on the stock and currency markets. The indicator is needed to check the strength and direction of the trend, as well as the definition of pivot points.
Mt Gox:
A digital currency exchange that performs Fiat-Bitcoin exchanges (and vice versa). Mt.Gox was founded in 2007 by Jed McCaleb. At the initial stage, she was engaged in trading with Magic the Gathering game cards, from which the name “Magic The Gathering Online eXchange” was formed. On April 15, 2014, Mt.Gox filed for liquidation in a Tokyo court.
Multi-Signature (Multi-sig):
A multi-signature that is a special type of digital signature provides an additional level of security. Multi-signatures can be created using a combination of several unique signatures. Multisignal technology allows two or more users to collectively sign digital documents or cryptocurrency transactions.
N
Network:
Networks that refer to all nodes in the operation of a blockchain at any given moment in time.
Node:
Node is a server that holds a full ledger and broadcast it on a blockchain network.
No-coiner:
This is a person who does not have a cryptocurrency and missed the chance to buy it at a low price because they considered cryptocurrency a fraud. In general, such people claim that cryptocurrency as a phenomenon will sooner or later collapse.
Non-custodial:
A business model in which users are responsible for storing their own private and public key or seed pairs to avoid centralizing funds and assets.
Nonce:
Hashed transaction with an arbitrary number, that will be used only once.
O
Off-Ledger Currency:
The currency that is created outside the specified book of the blockchain, but accepted or used.
Offline Storage:
Autonomous storage is a storage in which there are cryptocurrencies and the storage is not currently connected to the Internet. The data stored in the offline storage is permanently stored in the device storage.
Online Storage:
Cryptocurrencies are stored in devices or systems that have access to the Internet. Such storage is much more convenient to use, but it is such storage that increases the risk of theft.
One Cancels The Other Order (OCO):
OCO helps traders place up to 2 orders when the price starts moving, and if one of them is executed, the other is canceled.
Open / Close:
Open: the price of a cryptocurrency at the beginning of the time interval. Close: is the price at which the cryptocurrency is closed at the end of the time interval.
Open Source:
A type of software released under a license in which the copyright holder grants users the right to use, study and distribute the software for any purpose. In this concept, participants believe in the free and open exchange of information to achieve the common good.
Oracles:
An oracle is an agent that is used as a bridge between blockchain solution and real-world projects. Validates data, finds information, and provides it between services.
Orphan:
A valid block in a blockchain whose parent block is unknown or missing. Such blocks can occur when two miners produce blocks at the same time or when fraudsters try to cancel a transaction.
Overbought:
The situation when a cryptocurrency is purchased in large quantities and its price increases. However, after prices have risen too high and quickly, a massive sale of cryptocurrency is expected soon and, as a result, prices fall.
Oversold:
In this case, the cryptocurrency was sold in large quantities and its price fell. After the price reduction, a period of active purchase of cryptocurrency is expected and its price will increase.
Over The Counter (OTC):
This term refers to over-the-counter trading carried out directly between customers and market makers. In this case, the seller and the buyer make a deal directly with each other, usually with the assistance of third parties.
P
Pair:
Trading between one cryptocurrency and another, for example, between BTC and ETH.
Paper Wallet:
A paper wallet consists of a sheet of paper on which the public and private keys of the cryptocurrency address are printed. After the paper wallet is generated, its owner can receive cryptocurrency transactions by transferring their public address to others. Transactions can be made either by manually entering the keys or by scanning QR codes using a smartphone.
Peer to Peer (P2P):
A distributed network or computational architecture that divides tasks or workloads into multiple computer systems. P2P networks can be used to exchange any digital data, including cryptocurrency between peers.
Permissioned Ledger:
The ledger is designed that only limited people or organizations have permissions to access the data on a Ledger or can change it.
Ponzi Scheme:
Ponzi schemes are basically fraudulent investment activities that work by paying out the money to the originally arrived investors at the expense of the investors’ funds, who arrived in the project later than everyone else.
Portfolio:
A set of cryptocurrencies that are owned by an investment company, financial institution or individual.
Pre-mine:
A process in which all of the original coins offers is generated during or before a public release. The developer or the development team extracts a certain amount of currency for themselves before the official launch of the project. Cryptocurrency obtained in this way can be used not only for fraud but also for legitimate purposes for crowdfunding or marketing.
Pre-sale:
Presale that takes place before the ICO is presented to the public for financing.
Private Key / Secret Key:
A private key is a secret number that allows you to perform actions with your assets using it. Each digital wallet contains one or more private keys, which are stored in the wallet file. Private keys are mathematically related to all addresses generated for the wallet. Private key is used to send cryptocurrency (“sign transaction”), and is the only way to prove that you’re the owner of your cryptocurrency.
Proof-of-Authority (PoA):
The algorithm that confirms authorization. PoA is used with blockchains, in conjunction with which it provides relatively fast transactions through a consensus mechanism based on identity as a share.
Proof-of-Burn (PoB):
The method used by cryptocurrencies to prove the burning of coins. This method consists in the fact that the miners prove that they burned the coins (burning the coins means that the coins were sent to the checked unused address).
Proof-of-Developer (PoD):
Any verification that proves the presence of a live software developer who created a cryptocurrency. This check is necessary so that an anonymous developer does not refuse any funds raised without providing a working model.
Proof-of-Stake (PoS):
The mechanism of using stake as a resource that will determine the choice of the creator of the next block.
Proof-of-Work (PoW):
A consensus mechanism used to validate tranasctions, mine new blocks. Protects the network by huge computing power spent by participants in solving mathematical puzzles (mining process).
Protocol:
A set of rules that must be followed for online activities. Usually, they include consensus, transaction verification and network participation in a blockchain.
Pseudonymous:
Using entry with a false name.
Public Address:
A cryptographic hash of the public key used to receive and send cryptocurrency.
Public Blockchain:
A blockchain that can be accessed by any user.
Pump and Dump (P&D) Scheme:
Preliminary collection of people in groups and a general agreement on the mass purchase and sale of certain altcoins. Thereby changing the growth in demand for them and facing sharply decrease in price. This scheme is used by scammers to make money on a fake/useless cryptocurrencies. At the same time, in order to increase the effect, these people are beginning to spread false information, which convinces potential investors to start investing their money in the growing cryptocurrency.
Q
QR Code:
Black and white labels readable by devices. QR Code shows information and is used to exchange wallet addresses with others.
R
Rank:
Market cryptocurrency position by market capitalization.
REKT:
Abbreviated slang that describes a loss in a transaction.
Reverse Indicator:
A person who can be used as an indicator of reverse bets, as his assumptions are always wrong.
Ring Signature:
A method of increasing privacy, by fusing inputs of multiple signers with the original sender to authorize a transaction.
ROI:
The method used to assess the effectiveness of investments. Calculated as the ratio between net income and net worth.
Relative Strength Index (RSI):
Indicator of technical analysis, which determines the strength of the trend and the probability of its change. The popularity of RSI is related to the simplicity of its interpretation. The index was created by J. Welles Wilder.
S
Satoshi (SATS):
The smallest unit of measure bitcoin. It is equal to 0,00000001 BTC.
Satoshi Nakamoto:
The person or group of people who created Bitcoin. Satoshi’s identity has never been confirmed and remains a mystery for a long time.
Scam:
An investment tool that for any reason has ceased to fulfill its obligation to investors. The concept of Scam is mainly used as slang among investors associated with HYIP.
Second-Layer Solutions:
A set of second-level solutions created on the basis of a publicly available blockchain to expand its scalability and efficiency, especially for microtransactions or actions.
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC):
An independent agency of the US federal government is the main body that oversees and regulates the American stock market, national stock exchanges and options exchanges, and other related activities and organizations. The commission was established in 1934.
Seed:
Receiving keys with a deterministic wallet. It is usually presented as a series of words to allow the owner to quickly backup or restore the wallet.
Segregated Witness (SegWit):
Implemented protocol update, designed to solve the problem of the Bitcoin transaction size, as well as increase its throughput. In the past, when changing signatures in blocks, the protocol changed the transaction identifier and its subsequent hash. SegWit technology fix this by splitting the signature and block content.
Selfish Mining:
Bitcoin mining strategy in which miner groups cooperates to increase their revenues. Since Bitcoin was invented to decentralize the production and distribution of money, selfish mining can lead to the centralization of mining operations for Bitcoins.
Sell Wall:
A situation when a very large limit order or a set of orders is put up for sale when the cryptocurrency reaches a certain value.
Side Chain:
Is a blockchain settled upon the top of the blockchain with the two-way connection between the both chains. Sidechain is used to operate independently using its own protocols or ledger mechanisms.
Simplified Payment Verification (SPV):
The technology allows following the longest chain without the need to run a full-node. Commonly used in cryptocurrency wallets, as it allows users to have a light client installed on their device. SPV checks all the spent coins by syncing with the node by the internet.
SHA-256:
SHA 256 is the name of a cryptographic hash function. SHA 256 derives its name from the acronym Secure Hashing Algorithm. The main task of SHA 256 is to generate 256-signatures for generating addresses, private keys that are used in Bitcoin blockchain and some other projects. SHA-256 is used to protect the blockchain from attacks and can be forced by brute force (spending computational resources on finding the match letters+symbols combination that will give access to a private key). The other function of SHA-256 is making hashes and block linking.
Sharding:
Sharding is an application scaling strategy. Within the framework of sharding, information from a common database is divided into blocks and distributed among different servers, which are called shards. The process of using this strategy is called sharding. Sometimes you can come across the term partitioning – this is part of sharding. This is the name of the process of dividing the database, before moving it to separate servers.
Shilling:
Part of the advertising move, aimed at reviewing any cryptocurrency from a specific person with the purpose of its promotion and advertising.
Shitcoin:
Coins with low capitalization and unclear development prospects.
Short:
Trading method when a trader buys an asset, waiting for a price reduction. In the case of a real price drop, the trader buys a cryptocurrency at the lower price waiting for it to surge, making profits on price changes.
Silk Road:
The dark market that existed in DarkNet and was recently closed by the FBI. The owner of Silk Road is a double-life sentenced for illegal activities.
Smart contract:
Smart Contracts (also self-executing contracts, blockchain contracts, digital contracts) is a digital form of agreement stored in the blockchain, automatically-executed without the participation of intermediaries when certain conditions are met. Initially, the idea of smart contracts was published by Nick Szabo in 1997 at the example of automated vending machines.
Soft Cap:
The minimum amount of funds needed to run the project. Soft Cap word is often used in ICO or cryptocurrency crowdfunding.
Soft Fork (Blockchain):
Making changes to the current cryptocurrency code, which does not lead to division into different blockchains. When updating the protocol, previously valid transactions become invalid.
Solidity:
A programming language proposed by Gavin Wood on August 2014. This language is used by Ethereum to develop smart contracts.
Spot:
Agreement on purchasing/selling crypto or transaction with mandatory immediate payment and transfer.
Spot Market:
A public financial market in which financial instruments or goods are sold for immediate delivery. This contrasts works with a futures market in which delivery will be made later.
Stablecoin:
A type of low volatility cryptocurrency that is designed to maintain a stable market price. Always backed by the real assets or other cryptocurrency placed in reserve.
Staking:
A process of funds placed into an escrow account to receive rewards for acting as a transaction validator in the Proof-of-Stake based blockchains.
Stale Block:
Blocks that were mined but not added to the current longest chain, because the other blocks with the same height have been added first to the chain.
State Channel:
It is a solution proposed to speed up the Bitcoin network. State channels used to make transactions between addresses without the need of registering each transfer into the blockchain. The technology implemented in the Lightning Network currently.
Symbol:
Sign of cryptocurrency, which helps to visually distinguish cryptocurrencies from each other.
T
Taint Coins:
The cryptocurrency coins that someone wants to hide and uses different wallets or mixers, but they are still traceable.
Tangle:
Technology is similar to blockchain developed by IOTA.
Testnet:
Is a test network used for development, testing transaction, and education? Most of the blockchains have their testnet versions.
Technical Analysis / Trend Analysis (TA):
A method for evaluating investments and determining trading opportunities by analyzing statistical trends resulting from trading activities, such as price and volume changes. Unlike fundamental analysts, technical analysts focus on price movement patterns, trading signals, and various other analytic charting tools to gauge the strength or weakness of security.
Think Long Term (TLT):
A project with a long-term investment horizon, starting with planning for months and ending with decades.
Ticker:
An abbreviation unique for every crypto used to identify different cryptocurrencies. I.e.: BTC, XRP, EOS, ETH
Timelock / Locktime:
A condition for processing a transaction only at a specific time or in a specific block on a blockchain.
Timestamp:
The form of identification as a sequence of characters or coded information indicating when the transaction occurred. It usually shows the date and time.
Token:
A digital unit that in most cases, has a utility role and works as a protocol on top of the blockchain. Doesn’t have a value on it’s own but are made as a part of crypto-economic.
Token Generation Event:
Token issue time.
Tokenize:
Is the process when the real-world asset is turned into a digital value like cryptocurrency tokens. Tokenization is used to proceed with crowdfunding or allow users ownership of a part of these tokens. Examples are Vechain, Tron and more.
Tor:
Free software for anonymous communications on the web. Tor comes from the name “The Onion Router”. It consists of a network of volunteer relays that hide the location and use of users.
Total Supply:
The total amount of a cryptocurrency that currently exists or currently is in circulation. This is the sum of coins that have already been mined (or released) minus the sum of the coins that were burned or destroyed.
Trade Volume:
Amount of cryptocurrency that has been traded within the last 24 hours.
Transaction (TX):
It is a set of data in blockchain that provides information that cryptocurrency has been sent from one address to another.
Transaction Fee:
Payment set up for miners/validators activity. It incentivizes participants to include your transaction into a block. For Proof-of-Work blockchains the more fees you pay for transaction the higher priority it will have
Trustless:
One of the advertised features of Bitcoin, when participants do not need to trust each other to complete a transaction.
Turing-Complete:
A machine that, with enough time and memory along with the necessary instructions, can solve any computational problem, no matter how complex it may be.
U
Unconfirmed Transaction:
A transaction that has not been included into a block for some reasons. For example, the fees setup for this transaction are too low.
Unpermissioned Ledger:
Public blockchain. It means that everyone can become a participant and no-one himself can govern such blockchain.
Unspent Transaction Output (UTXO):
It’s unspent transaction output, the technology associated mostly with Bitcoin blockchain. Everyone who owns Bitcoin owns coins that are currently unspent. When sending a transaction you send some amount from your UTXO. Read more details here.
UTC Time:
The standard by which society regulates clocks and time using high-precision atomic clocks in conjunction with the rotation of the Earth.
V
Validator:
Participant of the Proof-of-Stake based blockchain, who validates transactions and blocks and receive rewards for his activity. Usually, a validator is required to put some amount of crypto into an escrow account as compensation for becoming a validator. In case of malicious activity, he will not be able to get his cryptocurrency back from an escrow account.
Vanity Address:
Public address for Bitcoin with arbitrary characters chosen personally by the owner.
Vaporware:
A ghostly cryptocurrency project that has never been developed.
Venture Capital:
The capital of investors, intended to finance new, growing or competing for a place in the market of enterprises and firms, and therefore this market involves a high or relatively high degree of risk.
Virgin Bitcoin:
Bitcoin, which has never been spent.
Volatility:
Volatility describes how quickly and how much an asset price changes. It is usually calculated in units of standard deviations of the annual return on an asset over a certain period of time. Since this is a measure of the speed and degree of price change, volatility is often used as an effective measure of the investment risk associated with an asset.
Volume:
Cryptocurrencies sold for a specific time interval. The volume shows the direction and movement of the cryptocurrency, as well as a forecast of the future price and its demand.
W
Wallet:
A tool that allows users to interact with blockchain networks. They are required when sending and receiving bitcoins and other digital currencies. Cryptocurrencies can also be used to generate new blockchain addresses.
Wash Trade:
A form of market manipulation in which the investor simultaneously sells and buys the same cryptocurrencies often at the same price to create misleading artificial activity in the market.
Watchlist:
The function of a website on which users can create their own cryptocurrency lists. As an alternative definition: a watch list is a set of pages selected by the user to track changes.
Weak Hands:
Investor panic at the first signs of lower asset prices.
Wei:
The smallest proportion of Ether. (1 ETH = 1000000000000000000 Wei.
Whale:
A whale is a term that describes the position of a person or organization in the cryptocurrency market. His actions can cause market fluctuations, which allows holders to manipulate the market.
When Lambo:
The question asked by a person who is waiting for the rate of cryptocurrency to take off.
When Moon:
The question asked by the person who follows the cryptocurrency rate. Often asked when the person is expected to get easy profits from cryptocurrency price growth.
Whitelist
A list of interested ICO members who have registered and expressed their intention to participate or make a purchase or sale.
Whitepaper:
The project document prepared for potential investor interest in the project vision, use of a cryptocurrency, technical information and a roadmap on how the project plans to grow and succeed.
Y
YTD:
Stands for a year to date
Zero Confirmation Transaction:
Synonym for Unconfirmed Transaction
Z
Zero-Knowledge Proof:
Verification method between verifier and verifier. In a zero-knowledge proof system, the verifier can prove to the verifier that he possesses knowledge of a specific piece of information (for example, solving a mathematical equation) without disclosing the information itself. These verification systems can be used by modern cryptographers to provide enhanced privacy and security.
